Dye not ready to give up on dream

Jennifer Gish

Published 9:01 pm, Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Kendall Dye during the second round of FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club in Battle Creek, Mich.. on June 7, 2014. (Scott A. Miller)

Kendall Dye during the second round of FireKeepers Casino Hotel...

Kendall Dye during the third round of the Symetra Tour's Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women's Health Classic at the Links at Stoney Point on May 10, 2014 in Greenwood, South Carolina. (Scott A. Miller)

People told Kendall Dye to give up. She was heading into her fifth year trying to make the LPGA Tour, and perhaps it was time for the 27-year-old to abandon all the traveling and early tee times and tournaments and settle down for a "real job" using that communications degree she earned at the University of Oklahoma.

"At the beginning of all this I told my parents I'll give myself three years, thinking for sure I'll be on the LPGA Tour by then," she says. "This Christmas, I had people almost begging me — 'Go get a job, Kendall.' But last year was my best year yet, and I'm still on the climb."

Dye, who is fifth in earnings on this Symetra Tour and will compete in the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills starting Friday, decided this year she'd throw even more at her dream of playing the highest level of women's golf possible. She stopped trying to cut corners on the road. She'd no longer drive to tournaments from her home in Phoenix, putting hundreds of miles in on the highway before stepping onto the course, as so many of the golfers do to save money. She flies instead, and has developed a love for stretching out in an aisle seat. And although many golfers will stay with host families so they don't have to spring for lodging, this year, Dye finds she's better rested and ready for the course if she books hotels.

And the biggest change to her approach is her caddie — she decided to hire one, a longtime golf friend she's known for years, who she says happens to be a master greens reader.

It has all allowed her to relax a little bit, and to try to finish in the top 10 of money-earners on the tour, what she needs to do to get her LPGA card for 2015.

"Money comes in when you spend it wisely," Dye says. "It's very expensive, and finally this year I've been playing well enough to make a little bit and break even."

Last year, she finished 19th with $26,257. This year, she won the IOA Golf Classic in Florida and has earned $39,135 so far on the tour, which puts her at No. 5. There are seven tournaments left (including SEFCU), and she says the odds are looking good for her to finally finish in the top 10 and get that coveted card.

She's loved the game since her dad introduced it to her and her older brother back in Oklahoma, and by age 12, she was outdriving her dad. She had two wins in collegiate competition at the University of Oklahoma, and says she is competitive, which is why she kept at it for another year even in the face of her own doubts.

"I would say 'OK, give it up. You're losing sponsor money. You're not making it.' I would look online for two seconds for job openings, and I would be like, 'No, I don't want to do that.' I want to be my own boss, I want to wear Nikes every day. I want to wear a hat, and I don't want a 9-to-5 job," Dye says. "Most of it is a money pressure of, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to go broke and then what am I got to do? I've got no money in the bank.' You've just got to have the faith that it's going to work out. That's all you're in control of."

At 27 and with five years of trying for that LPGA card, she could be considered one of the more experienced women on the tour. But she says she's been fortunate to have sponsors, including one couple that's a friend through her father, and has supported her dream. Companies, including Ping, have also helped her by giving her equipment, and she's been aggressive about seeking sponsorship opportunities, which is something that she says even Tiger Woods had to do at one point.

"I love to compete, and I love to see how good can I get. It's not about the money, but I want to be able to give back. I would love to write a check back to my sponsors and give them back more than they've given me. ... I just want to help people and whether that's financially or motivation or encouragement or teaching golf," she says. "I'm so close, and I want to see what it's like on the LPGA, and see if I can compete and make a career out of it, and I believe I can. And if I can't, at least I got to the big stage."